


All costs

by Oh_golly_ice_lolly



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Alien Imposter, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Assassins, Dead crewmates, Enemies to Lovers, Jealousy?, Kinda, Other, Sneaky little imposter, They make small cameos, aight imma head out, imposter/imposter, it’s not as bad as it sounds, tongue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27149275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_golly_ice_lolly/pseuds/Oh_golly_ice_lolly
Summary: Yellow keeps stealing purple’s kills-(Somehow they don’t murder each other.)
Relationships: Purple/Yellow (Among Us)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	All costs

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy!!! 
> 
> (There are like 2 swears in this, also blood and dead crewmates) (just warning u xx)
> 
> Ps. Dedicated to my friends who are a pack of hungry vultures, luv u

Purple pressed themselves flat against the wall. A knife glinted menacingly by their side as they listened closely to the quiet rustling of their target in Electrical. This would be the first kill they'd make on this ship and Purple could already feel the rush of adrenaline and thrill coasting through their veins as natural as blood. 

They had been assigned this mission from the higher ups many years ago when they were a newbie trainee and had spent seasons preparing, training till they collapsed over and over- all for this moment. They couldn't afford to mess it up. 

Do not let the ship reach The Extraction Zone at All Costs. Purple took their order very seriously, they would see it out till the end.

Murder wasn't really Purple’s first choice. They were more of a 'sabotage and run' kind of Imposter, but this crew...this crew were Different. 

A thorn in their side since the very beginning. Making friends and chatting away without a care in the world like they'd known each other for years. It was unnerving. Most missions Purple had infiltrated, the crew had been detached and had mostly kept to themselves. No strings, no obligations. Purple liked it that way. But this one...

Oh well. Their lucky streak had to run out one day. 

So here they were, like a good little soldier- awkwardly holding a knife they'd stolen from the kitchen after doing last nights cooking. Nobody would notice it was missing. Any minute now Purple would hear the telltale patter of footsteps signalling Orange leaving Electrical. 

And as if right on queue, Purple could hear the shuffle of feet on metal making their way toward the exit where they were waiting. Any second now...

Any second...

A foot in the doorway gave Purple all the motivation they needed and they darted forward quickly, raising their knife to strike a fatal blow...

But the hit never landed. 

"Woah, Buddy. You might want to be careful where you put that knife." 

Purple staggered back in surprise, fruitlessly trying to conceal their stolen weapon behind their back. 

It was... Yellow? ...But it wasn't at the same time? The other crewmate seemed off, almost as if their body was contorting at odd angles. This would be practically unnoticeable to anyone else that wasn't Purple. They had, after all, been training since they could walk.

"Were you looking for someone?" Yellow chirped curiously, tilting their head at an abnormal angle. A figure of innocence and naivety. 

Purple took a cautious step back. Away from Yellow's eye-line they gripped the knife tighter. They may have to defend themselves if the situation were to turn sour.

"No," Purple made sure to keep their voice calm and steady. Yellow had no evidence against them other than their word. 

"I just wanted a quick word with Orange, that's all..." Purple could feel a bead of sweat trickle down their forehead. Show no emotion show no emotion-

"Oh!" The other crew member exclaimed. They looked around over their shoulder for a few seconds before turning back to face pPurple and then leaned in conspiratorially.

"Orange is... busy right now..." they whispered behind their palm, voice saccharine sweet and genuine. However, their tone swiftly gained a more amused note. "If you get what I mean." They winked. 

Hating any physical being that violated their personal bubble, Purple reeled back and blinked at them. What the fuck did that mean? 

With that, Yellow turned- whistling an annoyingly cheerful tune and strode merrily away. Purple watched Yellow's retreating back, mouth open- dumbfounded. 

What had just happened?! What did Yellow mean by busy? Why were they so cryptic all the time?

Whatever they had been talking about, Purple was not going to stick around any longer and find out. They pulled out their tablet and looked blindly for a task to fake. Navigation, that hopefully put enough distance between them and whatever was happening in Electrical. 

-

It was only after their back had retreated round the corner did Purple's mind register the speckles of dried blood that had been splattered across Yellow's mask. 

That sneak.

-

So far, today had not been going well for Purple. Pink hadn't stopped screaming after they'd found Orange's mutilated body in Electrical, wires still sparking dangerously and lights dimmed.

God, what a nightmare. 

Purple leaned their elbows on the cafeteria table and began to massage their temples. What would it take to get some peace and quiet around here? The meeting was well underway to lasting over three hours and none of their stupid crew mates had made any headway whatsoever. 

"Maybe it was an accident?" Green mumbled dumbly. They were looking longingly at Cyan's cold slice of pizza and clearly someone else wanted this meeting to come to an end almost as much as Purple did. 

"Yeah Green, maybe it was an accident. What gave you that idea? Was it the disembodied corpse or the entire missing upper part of Orange's body?" Black- who used far too much sarcasm in purple's opinion, growled angrily. 

Pink broke into another round of sobbing and Red gave an angry kick to Black under the table. "Stop it," they hissed. "Can't you see you're being insensitive?" 

"I'm sorry but there's no sensitivity at all in the matter! Orange has probably been murdered by some- sick person here and-"

Purple drowned out Black and Red's angry yelling and turned their attention instead to the crewmate of the hour- Yellow themselves. 

The other imposter looked as bored as Purple felt, drumming their fingers on the table and staring into the distance- somewhere very far from reach. Knowing Yellow, they were probably planning their next murder.

As if noticing Purple's gaze, they slowly turned their head to meet the others eyes. Lightning seemed to spark when they met gazes, hard and dangerous. Yellow gave a beaming, bright sunshine smile. And Purple could feel the goosebumps raise on their skin, like millions of tiny pinpricks.

They continued to stare for a long moment before wrenching their gaze away to fix itself back on Red and Black who were now inches away from brawling on the floor. 

Yeah, Purple thought as furious yelling and exasperated murmurs erupted around the table. Today was really not their day.

-

And things only got worse from there. Yellow had gone and beat them to it. Again. The other was standing over White’s prone form, their suit splitting in half to reveal a horrific sharp maw of bloody teeth. 

This was a whole other can of worms Purple did not want to open. They had their mission and Yellow had their... whatever it was they were doing. It was not their business. They spun on their heel to turn and walk out the door they came through only to freeze at a low guttural noise- something a predator in the wild would make.

Of course there was only one other person in the room with them (White’s body didn't count) and that person was Yellow. Purple would not give the other any acknowledgment whatsoever. Ignoring the problem would perhaps get rid of the problem.

With that thought, they ground their teeth with irritation and their clenched fists ached with strained tension. Purple made sure to show no reaction to the other and continued walking steadily forward towards the exit. 

Another deep growl had their steps falter slightly but purple would not give in. Yellow continued to mess things up for them. All they wanted to do was successfully murder and sabotage their crew mates! Was that too much to ask?!

Apparently so. 

The sound of ripping flesh and a fast moving appendage behind them was all the warning Purple had before something long and wet wrapped around their ankle, yanking them backwards. Purple was dragged swiftly and gracelessly across the floor deeper into the room. If they had been anyone else this would have likely meant a swift and grisly death, impaled on one of Yellow's spear-like fangs. However, Purple was not anyone else and the trained assassin managed to deftly fumble their knife out from their pocket and stab it into the long tongue. 

They were abruptly released and Purple landed in an elegant crouch, body tensed and ready to attack. Yellow was grunting in pain as they gingerly examined their steadily bleeding tongue (Black blood? What was up with that?) before turning to angrily face Purple. 

"What did you do that for!?" They snarled, tone accusatory and maybe a little bit... hurt?

Purple didn't move an inch from their tensed kneeling position a few feet away. Yellow could try as hard as they wanted, nothing would stop purple from seeing their mission through to the end. Not even a homicidal alien.

"Well?" Yellow growled. "The least you could do is answer me after I- I don't know- spared your life!"

Purple could hold it in no longer. The sheer rage and irritability that had been building up all day finally released itself. 

"Spared my life?" They exploded. "Spared my life?! You have got to be kidding!" 

Yellow was far too much trouble than they were worth. Acting all happy and sweet. When in reality they were nothing more than a sadistic, extraterrestrial monster. Purple was sick of it. Murder was fine, they understood that. The thundering of your heart and the unquenchable red haze that could only be satisfied with blood and bone was something they felt too. Often in fact. However, the act, was something completely different. Cowards could lie to others and sometimes even to themselves. But Yellow couldn't lie to Purple. They were one in the same.

"You wrapped your- your thing around my ankle and tried to eat me! I don't know how they do it on mars, but it doesn't work like that here."

Yellow spluttered in indignation and offence "I was making sure no one would see you lurking there at the doorway to the room White’s dead body is laying!"

Unbelievable. Yellow was trying to play that card? protect them? Yeah right. Purple would have been dead and mutilated on the floor in ten seconds flat if Yellow had succeded in tugging them back, just like Orange and White. The first lesson they had been taught when they started their training was to never trust anybody- no matter how nice or friendly they seemed. Purple was not going to risk the mission by making some rookie mistake and believe yellow wasn't trying to eat them.

"Sorry but it didn't come across that way," they grit out, straightening up from their crouched position and crossing their arms- in what they hoped- was a menacing way.

The other threw their hands up in exasperation, as if Purple was the idiot here. "Well what did you expect me to do?!" Yellow's voice rose in pitch. it was kind of amusing really, that Purple had this affect on an extraterrestrial being. (and though they wouldn't admit it, it probably pleased them more than it should.)

"I don't know? Maybe not use your fucking tongue to pull me towards a row of razor blade teeth." Purple spat. They were slowly loosing any patience and civility they had left with Yellow and were tempted more than anything to stab the clueless look off the others ugly gormless alien face. 

"Maybe don't go and slice my tongue then!" Yellow screeched. They were dangerously close to treading on White's crimson stained body and Purple was certainly not about to notify them. Hopefully, Yellow would slip and then they'd definitely look rather sus to anyone who found them covered in blood between 02 and the showers.

"Whatever," Purple grumbled, looking anywhere but Yellow. The ground was an appropriate replacement. 

Speaking of, Yellow looked lost for words- like some kind of sad gasping fish. Their mouth opened and closed wordlessly as if they couldn't believe what Purple was saying. "Purple you are unbelievable!" they burst out. 

It seemed Yellow had even more to say. (Not that purple was listening or anything.)

"I help you murder and this is the thanks I get? why do I even bother?!" Okay, that was a bit rude. And inaccurate. Yellow hasn't helped them with anything. All they'd done was give Purple a chronic migraine and mounted suspicions on the ship. Oh yeah, Yellow was still speaking. 

"-you're going to get caught one of these days and I won't be there to cover for you again!" Yellow panted breathlessly. And okay, that was very rude. Purple had, had enough. Yellow needed to get a few things straight.

A bit of physical violence would hopefully put Yellow back in their place.

"That's enough!" They snarled and with all the strength they held, Purple closed the small amount of distance between the two and slammed the other up against the wall. "Stop stealing my kills!"

"Your kills?" Yellow spat angrily, unmoving and icy cold beneath the others palms. "You couldn't kill someone if they were wrapped up nicely as a present and placed right in front of you!" 

Purple only glared and pressed their shimmering knife close to the others jugular. They were so, so tempted to slit Yellow's throat right then and there- and watch the black beads of ichor dribble to the ground like tiny midnight pearls until yellow stopped twitching. But they wouldn't. Not yet.

Yellow didn't have to know that though.

"You shut your mouth! or i'll end this. Right here. Right now." Purple spat. "Would you like that Yellow?"

The other merely laughed, a pretty and tinkling sound- filled with the screams and blood of their past victims. 

"Oh Purple." They purred. "You couldn't kill me if you tried."

Looking back on it, Purple didn't know why this was the thing that finally set them off. It wasn't a particularly cruel comment nor did they have to listen to anything Yellow said to deliberately wind them up. But it was this that made Purple loose their already quick temper. 

"I hate you!" And with a hard shove, Purple angrily stormed out of O2. As they hurried away, Purple could feel their heart angrily thudding in their chest like a drum. Just what was Yellow thinking?! Did they relish inPpurple's anger? Did they find it amusing?

What was Yellow thinking?

-

The next few days passed by in a blurry haze of tasks and nerves. Purple was trying their utmost best to avoid Yellow at all costs. (Not that they didn't do this before.) 

This was made pretty easy actually due to the whole crew being ordered into assigned pairs for some kind of buddy system. It was a pointless waste of time in Purple’s opinion. Red- who had thought of the idea- was a complete idiot. Always preaching on and on about 'friendship' and 'solidarity'. 'Don't worry, the imposter would never win if they all stuck together!'

What a load of nonsense.

Sticking in pairs certainly wouldn't stop Yellow. I mean seriously. An alien vs a bunch of stupid humans. Purple knew who their bets would be on. Regarding the pairs, they had been quickly paired up with Black as they both wouldn't go within five feet of Red. 

Purple wasn't honestly too happy about this partnership and neither was Black apparently. Black was too nosy for their own good. It would be the death of them. Purple could tell. Most of the time the bickered like children in a playground and when they weren't fighting they were glaring at each other in tense silence. It was not ideal. 

Yellow was naturally paired with Lime. Both chipper and outgoing the two unsurprisingly got on like a ship on fire- much to Purple's increasing annoyance. They went everywhere together. And by everywhere, Purple was not exaggerating. 

Lime was a massive scaredy cat, always jumping and screeching at the tiniest of things then denying they were ever scared in the first place. This was not a trait Purple admired. Because of their jumpy nature, Lime would always have some form of physical contact with the other. They would be clutching Yellow's wrist or perhaps have an arm slung comfortably over their shoulder like the two were the ' best of friends'. Regardless of what Black said, Purple was not jealous of the pair. Not jealous at all.

One benefit seemingly came out of the whole buddy system thing. Even though pairs were together practically 24 hours a day. There was, however, a small gap of time where buddies would split off for the night to walk to their individual rooms. This was the ideal time to strike. It was likely their crewmate's caution would decrease in this time period due to it being so short. If Purple were to just kill another cremate’s buddy, they would avoid suspicion and hopefully be a step closer to completing their mission.

It was with this optimistic hope their plan would work, that Purple carried on through the next few days-faking tasks blindly and rigorously.

Their plan would work. It had to. 

-

It was time.

-

It had been painfully easy to get rid of Black. The two normally split up a few minutes ahead of schedule to head to their rooms. Mutual hatred tended to do that to people. 

Before boarding the ship, (and after) Purple had studied all their cremates behaviour and schedules meticulously. They knew Pink and Cyan snuck off together to watch stars at 21:32. They knew Green always left bed at around midnight to go and sneak food from the kitchen. They also knew that Blue would make their way alone through shields to get to bed at approximately 23:02 after splitting off from Brown. This was where Purple came in. 

According to their research, nobody would be around communications aside from Blue at this time. Purple had scouted the area a few nights ago to check for advantages they could use in the environment for the murder and had come up with a rough plan.

They would use the vents to hide, becoming virtually undetectable until it was time to strike. Blue would never see it coming, and by then it would be too late. The plan wasn't honestly a great one but it wasn’t bad. Purple congratulated themselves on their innovation and resourcefulness and deftly climbed into the vent at shields to wait for their target.

All they had to do was wait.

And as if right on schedule, Blue meandered idly past the vent, just as Purple had planned. They seemed to be absorbed in whatever was blinking on their tablet and was murmuring under their breath in what Purple could tell was annoyance.

This was it. This was what Purple had been training for. Years upon years of work had all lead up to this moment. The kill.

As soon as Blue brusquely walked passed the vent, Purple stealthily propped it open and jumped out. Not really bothering to mask their footsteps as it would matter little, Purple padded after their crewmate. 

Blue, as if noticing someone was behind them, looked over their shoulder, surprised to see Purple standing there silently. 

"Oh! Hey Purple." They drawled. Clearly exhausted and wanting nothing more than a long and deep sleep. "I didn't- I didn't see you there," they laughed stiffly, but nonetheless genuinely.

Blue had always been nice.

"Yeah," Purple murmured softly, the could feel their muscles tense with anticipation and fought to control their expression. If this was to work, they could give nothing away. "I'm pretty quiet when I want to be."

"Mhm," echoed Blue idly. Their eyes were drooping and purple decided now was the time to act.

For a moment, there was a beat of silence. 

"Look Blue," Purple started, feigning confusion. "I was wondering if you could take a quick listen to the com. I'm not sure what base is talking about and you're so smart at that kind of-"

"Of course," their crewmate interjected. Contrary to their tone, Blue didn't look all too pleased, clearly tired from a long day of tasking but nevertheless led the way into the Communication room.

They raised a hand and pinched the bridge of their nose, turning to face Purple. "So what was it you needed help-"

They never finished their sentence. 

It was over quickly. Blue deserved that kindness at least.

Purple hastily wiped sweat off their brow. That had been surprisingly simple. One well placed swipe of their knife and Blue had been toast. Simple, but effective. 

A job well done indeed. Kneeling down, Purple wiped the blood from their blade on the other crewmates body and made to stand up, their stance light and relaxed. There was no longer anything to be tense about. They had done what they set out to do and nothing but satisfaction filled their bones. It was in this idleness, this- comfort that Purple did not notice the shocked figure standing behind them. 

"...Blue?" Brown trailed off, eyes wide and fearful they took a step back and stared incomprehensibly at Purple. Whipping their head round so fast Purple probably got whiplash, the Imposter blinked with surprise at Blue’s missing buddy. 

This was not part of the plan.

What was Brown doing here? They were supposed to be in bed. This wasn't right. Oh god oh god-

"Y-you killed them," Brown warbled. Their hands were shaking like leaves, twisting and fidgeting in shock. "You m-murdered Blue!" Their voice was rising octave. If Purple didn't stop them soon someone would hear and-

"No no no- you- you don't understand I-" it was fruitless. The blood splattered on their suit told no lies. It would be clear to most what had happened here.

"Murderer! Help! help! Murderer!" Brown shrieked, making to dash out the room. And second now the others would arrive and see the scene that was in front of them, plain and obvious. Purple would be ejected.

This couldn't be happening. Purple was done for. They'd been caught. It was over. They had failed the mission.

Footsteps thundered outside the room. Purple outstretched a blood soaked hand towards Brown and-

An arc of blood splattered through the air and Brown’s severed body lay limp on the ground.

It was Yellow. Of course it was Yellow. A mass of swarming tentacles had cracked through their mask and were spiralling madly in the air, like some kind of eldritch horror. It was strangely breathtaking. 

As if only noticing Purple’s presence, Yellow turned to face them, tentacles retreating back to... wherever they came from.

"A-are you alright?" Yellow panted, breathless. Their tentacle trick had clearly taken a lot out of the other and it was oddly satisfying to see the other show any semblance of exhaustion.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Purple stared at the other. Equally as breathless. It was as if all the air from their body had left their lungs- like a sad, deflated balloon.

Yellow gave them an unidentifiable look and stepped unbothered over what remained of Brown.

"You're lucky I managed to shake Lime off." They chuckled. 

Strange... Yellow seemed almost... relieved. No, it was probably the shock.

"You kill them?" Purple tried to keep their tone indifferent but by the look on Yellow’s face they knew they were failing miserably. Lime was just too clingy for it to be innocent.

"No," the other shrugged and didn't look away from where their gaze was fixed on Purple's.

That was too bad. Purple scowled glaring at the other and their stupid blood-soaked suit. Yellow merely smiled knowingly as if they held all the secrets in their open hands. How Yellow had not been caught already- Purple would never understand.

"..But you're covered in blood?" This was true. Yellow was covered in blood and not all of it was Brown’s.

"Well yeah, I did just kill Brown," they laughed. That laugh, that goddamn beautiful, stupid laugh. Purple was helpless, soft as putty. This was not part of their mission. 

"No..." Purple trailed off. "It's old blood." What was Yellow trying to hide?

As if admitting defeat Yellow grumbled out a gruff 'Black' and moodily crossed their arms. 

"Black?" What did Yellow mean Black? Had Black caught them?

"They were alone," Yellow perked up. "Easy target." Yellow gave a wink and shuffled a bit closer to Purple. 

"What the hell Yellow!" Purple turned to the icluderously. "Do you know how risky that is? Three dead in one night!"

"What," they shrugged. It was painfully clear Yellow was not the least bit guilty. "I didn't like the way they looked at you." Oh. 

Oh. 

Feeling their face heat up with warm embarrassment, Purple stared at their feet. "You make my life so difficult," they mumbled. 

Yellow beamed. They were bright as the sun and Purple was a hopeless planet- pulled in to orbit. They didn't stand a chance. They never had. Pretty smiles and pretty words and oh- they had fallen hard for this one.

Oblivious to the fact that when they spoke it were like a thousands colliding stars, they continued. "You wouldn't have it any other way." Yellow seemed pretty confident in this.

Purple didn't deny it. 

"I suppose I wouldn't..." they spoke slowly. 

The pair gazed longingly at each other again for a long, peaceful moment.

The blaring alarm of the reactor sounded. They both jumped. Purple, in fact had fallen backwards in surprise and landed painfully on the ground. 

Yellow waved their hands placiating. "My bad, my bad!" They exclaimed frantically. "I set that off earlier."

Purple shook their head in exasperation. Yellow was going to be the death of them. 

Guiltily Yellow slowly and tentatively smiled. Then they hurried over to Purple's side. 

"Coming?" They asked. Hopeful and cautious. It was clearly an invitation to follow them and perhaps a little bit more.

Purple looked at Yellow's extended hand. Their mission was technically to stop the ship reaching their goal. Whatever the cost. However, Yellow didn't really interfere with this objective. In fact they may be a useful ally. Yeah. Their superiors probably wouldn't complain. Too much. And if they did, they could always kill them.

They'd probably follow Yellow to hell and back. Someone had to keep and eye on them after all. 

Purple smiled. 

"Yeah. I'm coming."


End file.
